IMPORTANT POINT
The court upheld the two-year internship requirement for foreign medical graduates, emphasizing the necessity of adequate practical training due to pandemic-related disruptions.

ORDER :

C.S.Dias, J.

The writ petition is filed, inter alia, to quash Note 3 in Exts. P5 and P5(a) certificates and declare that the petitioners have to undergo the Compulsory Rotating Medical Internship only for one year as per Ext.P4 regulation.

2. The petitioners have averred in the writ petition that they had undergone a Master of Medicine course at the Odessa National Medical University, Ukraine, equivalent to the MBBS course in India. The petitioners did their six-year graduation programme from June 2016 to May 2022. The petitioners had completed their curriculum in full, with 360 ECTS credits, including practical training. After completing the course, the petitioners appeared for the screening test conducted by the National Medical Commission (5th respondent) and passed the Foreign Medical Graduate Examination in December 2022. As per Regulation 5 of Ext.P5 National Medical Commission (Compulsory Rotating Medical Internship) Regulations, 2021 (‘Regulation’, for brevity) promulgated by the 5th respondent, the Compulsory Rotating Medical Internship (‘CRMI’, for short) shall not be less than 12 months and has to be completed within two years. Schedule 2 under Regulation 4 requires that a candidate undergoes an internship at par with Indian Medical Graduates if they desire to seek Permanent Registration to practise medicine in India. The registration of such candidates is provided under the National Medical Commission Act. As far as the States are concerned, the registration is relegated to the State Medical Commission. In the State of Kerala, Section 24 of the Kerala Medical Practitioners Act provides for the registration of medical practitioners.

As per Schedule 1 read with Regulation 5 of the Regulation, the overall duration of CRMI shall not be less than 12 months but shall be completed within two years. The Kerala State Medical Commission has provided provisional registration to the petitioners as per Exts.P5 and P5(a) certificates, valid for two years from the date of registration. However, in Note 3 of the said certificates, it is stipulated that the petitioners have to undergo the CRMI for two years. When a statutory provision stipulates only one year, the same cannot be changed by an executive decision. The above stipulation in Note 3 is arbitrary, oppressive and discriminatory and is in violation of Articles 14, 19 and 21 of the Constitution of India. The petitioners and similarly situated Foreign Medical Graduates have submitted various representations to the respondents to clarify the matter and to exempt them from undergoing the CRMI for two years. Pursuant to the said representations, the 5th respondent has issued Ext.P8 public notice stating that the students who have sufficiently compensated classes in physical onsite in lieu of online classes and have subsequently passed examinations equivalent to MBBS have to undergo only one-year CRMI. The petitioners have attended theory classes, practical training and examinations in the physical mode at their university. They have completed all their examinations. Additionally, in states like Rajasthan, Haryana, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, similarly situated candidates are permitted to apply for permanent registration upon completion of a one-year CRMI. So, the insistence of the 4th respondent for the two-year CRMI is untenable. Hence, the writ petition.

3. The 4th respondent has filed a counter affidavit refuting the contentions in the writ petition. It is contended that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the student community had to undergo their studies through online mode. Several Foreign Medical Graduates (‘FMGs’, in short) had returned to India and pursued the course through online mode. They also wrote their examinations online. Taking into consideration the said situation, the 5th respondent issued Ext.R4(a) public notice stating that in view of the directions of the Honourable Supreme Court in SLP No.2536-37 of 2022, the foreign medical students have to undergo CRMI for